simile, metaphor

simile, metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable. This is done in order to suggest a resemblance: "She is a perfect lamb." Metaphor and simile are allied in meaning; a simile expresses resemblance directly but does so by using as, as if, like: "She is as sweet as a flower." Unfortunately, most metaphors and some similes are either strained or trite. Many figures of speech are often mixed; standard advice is to sustain one figure and not suddenly shift to another: "We had the crankcase drained and thus nipped our trouble in the bud."

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  • simile, metaphor —  Both are figures of speech in which two things are compared. A simile likens one thing to another, dissimilar one: He ran like the wind. A metaphor acts as if the two compared things are identical and substitutes one for the other; thus… …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • metaphor — See simile. See simile, metaphor …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • simile — See simile, metaphor …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • metaphor and simile — 1. The difference between these two figures of speech, which together constitute a major element of English idiom, is largely one of form. A simile is a fanciful comparison couched in a form introduced by as or like, for example Byron s line The… …   Modern English usage

  • Metaphor in philosophy — Metaphor, the description of one thing as something else, has become of interest in recent decades to both analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, but for different reasons. Contents 1 Metaphor in analytic philosophy 2 Metaphor in… …   Wikipedia

  • metaphor — met a*phor (m[e^]t [.a]*f[^o]r or m[e^]t [.a]*f[ e]r), n. [F. m[ e]taphore, L. metaphora, fr. Gr. metafora , fr. metafe rein to carry over, transfer; meta beyond, over + fe rein to bring, bear.] (Rhet.) The transference of the relation between… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • simile — is a figure of speech consisting of a direct comparison using a construction with as…as…, or with the first as omitted: • Soft as rain slipping through rushes, the cattle came Edmund Blunden. Some similes belong to a stock type, e.g. (as) drunk… …   Modern English usage

  • metaphor — [met′ə fôr΄] n. [Fr métaphore < L metaphora < Gr < metapherein, to carry over < meta, over (see META ) + pherein, to BEAR1] a figure of speech containing an implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used… …   English World dictionary

  • metaphor — simile, *analogy …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • simile — *analogy, metaphor …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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